Why does the U.S. women’s soccer team get paid less...

1of15FILE - In this July 5, 2015 file photo, United States teammates, left to right, Morgan Brian (14), Tobin Heath (17), Alex Morgan (13), Lauren Holiday (12), Carli Lloyd (10) and Ali Krieger (11) celebrate after Lloyd's second goal against Japan during the first half of the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A federal judge in Chicago is set to make a high-stakes ruling to determine whether the world-champion U.S. women's soccer team has the right to strike before this year's Olympics. At the first status hearing in the case Thursday, March 3, 2016, a judge set May 25 for in-court arguments between the soccer federation and the players' union on the issue.Photo: Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via Associated Press

2of15Alex Morgan of The United States reacts on the pitch during the Women's International Friendly match between Spain and The United States at Estadio Jose Rico Perez on January 22, 2019 in Alicante, Spain.Photo: Quality Sport Images / Getty Images

3of15USA's Morgan Brian (L) reacts after conceding a goal during the women's friendly football match between France and USA at Oceane stadium in Le Havre, on January 19, 2019.Photo: Charly Triballeau / AFP / Getty Images

4of15Hope Solo #1 of USWNT signs autographs for fans after a women's international friendly soccer match between Brazil and the United States at the Orlando Citrus Bowl on October 25, 2015 in Orlando, Florida.Photo: Alex Menendez / Getty Images

5of15Christen Press (C) of The United States Women competes for the ball with Alexia Putellas of Spain Women during the International Friendly game between Spain Women and The United States Women at Estadio Jose Rico Perez on January 22, 2019 in Alicante, Spain.Photo: David Aliaga / MB Media / Getty Images

6of15Becky Sauerbrunn (4) of the United States, Allie Long (3), Mallory Pugh (2), Hope Solo (1) and Carlie Lloyd (10) stand for their country's national anthem before the first half of their first round Rio 2016 group G match against New Zealand.Photo: AAron Ontiveroz / Denver Post via Getty Images

7of15(L-R) Heather O'Reilly #9, Julie Johnson #8, Hope Solo #1 and Carli Lloyd #10 of the United States watch a video tribute to Solo after she posted her 100th career shut-out against South Africa in a friendly match at Soldier Field on July 9, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The United States defeated South Africa 1-0.Photo: Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

8of15Hope Solo of USA looks on during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 Final between USA and Japan at BC Place Stadium on July 5, 2015 in Vancouver, Canada.Photo: Lars Baron / FIFA via Getty Images

9of15US Midfielder Megan Rapinoe (15) celebrates after her goal with teammates in the first half during the She Believes Cup game between Japan and the United States on February 27, 2019 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, PA.Photo: Kyle Ross / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

10of15FILE - In this July 5, 2015, file photo, the United States Women’s National Team celebrates with the trophy after they defeated Japan 5-2 in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. People with knowledge of FIFA’s finances told The Associated Press that in the four-year period covering the 2018 World Cup, FIFA’s reserves soared to $2.74 billion and revenue rose to $6.4 billion, but it also underscores the glaring disparity between men and women’s soccer.Photo: Darryl Dyck / Associated Press

11of15FILE-- Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe with other members of the U.S. women's soccer team make their way down the Canyon of Heroes during a ticker-tape parade in their honor for winning the World Cup, in New York, July 10, 2015. Rapinoe, Lloyd and their other teammates of the U.S. women's soccer team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation on March 8, 2019, a sudden and significant escalation of their long-running fight with the country’s soccer federation over pay equity and working conditions.Photo: Mark Kauzlarich / New York Times

12of15Alex Morgan of United States of America signs autographs for fans at full time during the Tournament of Nations match between Australia and United States of America at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut on July 29, 2018.Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt / Getty Images

13of15Lindsey Horan of United States of America in action during the International Friendly match between Portugal and United States of America at Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota on November 8, 2018 in Estoril, Portugal.Photo: Gualter Fatia / Getty Images

14of15FILE - In this Tuesday, March 5, 2019, file photo, United States' Tobin Heath, second from right, is congratulated on her goal by Mallory Pugh (11), Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan (13) during the first half of a SheBelieves Cup soccer match against Brazil in Tampa, Fla. The U.S. women's national soccer team's discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation highlights the struggle for female athletes globally to achieve fair compensation for their efforts, even if that doesn't mean identical paychecks to their male counterparts.Photo: Mike Carlson / Associated Press

15of15Young USA fans hold up a flag with Alex Morgan (13) on it before a women's soccer match between Japan and USA in the 2018 Tournament of Nations on July 26, 2018 at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, KS.Photo: Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A few days before players on the U.S. women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination class action lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, they took the field against England with the names of iconic women on the backs of their jerseys.

Fitting, because these athletes are becoming more iconic themselves with every passing day. Not just for what they do on the field, not only for their world championships and gold medals, but for their willingness to fight for themselves and others. To battle for the rights of all women. To push against the status quo.

“We feel a responsibility not only to stand up for what we know we deserve as athletes,” Redding native Megan Rapinoe said in a statement, “but also for what we know is right — on behalf of our teammates, future teammates, fellow women athletes and women all around the world.”

U.S. women’s national team members stand arm-in-arm in solidarity in a match against England on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.

Photo: Mark Zaleski / Associated Press

Who better to fight this kind of battle than women who have — visibly and historically — surpassed the men who are doing the same job?

The lawsuit, which was filed on International Women’s Day last week, three months before the team opens defense of its World Cup championship in France, includes the names of all 28 current players. But it also covers past players who represented the U.S. About a third of the present-day team has ties to the Bay Area and Northern California.

This is the latest in a protracted and increasingly ugly legal battle between the nation’s most successful soccer team and the federation that governs both the women and their male counterparts. An organization that governs them, the suit claims, unequally.

As laid out in the lawsuit, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) asks both men and women to play the same game, on the same size field, adhering to the same rules and protocols. Yet, the suit states, U.S. Soccer (a nonprofit) admits to paying its female players less than the male players “and has gone so far as to claim that ‘market realities are such that the women do not deserve to be paid equally to the men.’”

According to details laid out in the lawsuit, the women receive far less than men for games, wins, wins against internationally top-ranked teams and making the country’s World Cup roster.

The lawsuit states: “The pay for advancement through the rounds of the World Cup was so skewed that, in 2014, the USSF provided the (men’s national team) with performance bonuses totaling $5,375,000 for losing in the Round of 16, while, in 2015, the USSF provided the (women’s national team) with only $1,725,000 for winning the entire tournament. The (women) earned more than three times less than the (men) while performing demonstrably better.”

Soccer fans cheer as the the United States women's national team warms up before a SheBelieves Cup women's soccer match against England Saturday, March 2, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn.

Photo: Mark Zaleski / Associated Press

The phrase “performing demonstrably better” is key to the women’s argument. They are the world’s top-ranked team and will head to France with three stars on their jerseys, one for each World Cup championship. They are the team with well-known names on their roster. They are the team that plays more games annually because of their advancement through tournaments.

They are the team that, in the 2015 Women’s World Cup final, tallied the largest television audience in United States history for any soccer game (and have two of the top three all-time audiences).

And they make money for the federation. According to the lawsuit, in Fiscal Year 2016 (April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016), U.S. Soccer budgeted for a combined net loss for the national teams of $429,929. “But,” the lawsuit states, “thanks largely to the success of the female players on the WNT, the USSF revised its projections upward to include a $17.7 million profit. The net profit for the WNT outstripped net profit for the MNT because the female players on the WNT were more successful in competition than the male players on the MNT — while being paid substantially less.”

This battle dates back decades. Shortly after winning the 1999 World Cup, the U.S. women had to strike to get a better contract. In February 2016, U.S. Soccer sued the players’ union over its existing contract. A month later, five well-known veterans — Rapinoe, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn — filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But nothing happened, and the process became frustrating.

During the intervening years, the players signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that made incremental improvements. (The men negotiate a separate CBA.) There was also a heated election for the U.S. Soccer presidency with gender equity given extensive lip service. One candidate, the former president of the federation’s marketing body, said, according to the lawsuit, that the women’s team had been under-marketed and had been taken for granted by U.S. Soccer.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, the players are changing tactics. The first to file a separate lawsuit against U.S. Soccer was former goalkeeper Solo, no longer on the team. She filed in San Francisco last August. A month ago, the others named in the EEOC complaint received the notice of the right to sue, and followed Solo’s lead.

Hope Solo #1 of the United States in action against Costa Rica during the match at Heinz Field on August 16, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Photo: Jared Wickerham / Getty Images

Alex Morgan of United States of America leads the teams out on the pitch during the Tournament of Nations match between Australia and United States of America at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut on July 29, 2018.

Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt / Getty Images

According to the lead attorney on the latest filing, Jeffrey Kessler, Solo’s suit will likely be consolidated into the more recent lawsuit, and moved to Southern California, a jurisdiction chosen because many of the players live there and U.S. Soccer holds training camps in Carson. That probably will be the next step in what is expected to be a long process.

Since the lawsuit has been filed, a counter-argument has been raised. Because FIFA awards bonus money for World Cups and the pool for the men is vastly greater than for the women, the argument goes, this is a FIFA problem.

Kessler rejects that notion. He says U.S. Soccer can award received money from FIFA as it sees fit.

“FIFA determines how much money to give to USSF, but USSF can give to anyone,” Kessler said. “It’s just like any other stream of money. It is USSF’s decision to discriminate.”

FIFA’s total prize money for this summer’s Women’s World Cup will total $30 million. The total prize money for last summer’s men’s World Cup in France was $400 million. Last week, the Associated Press reported that FIFA’s revenue in the most recent four-year period was $6.4 billion and the organization’s cash reserves have soared to a record $2.74 billion. There’s enough money to do more than pay lip service to gender equity.

U.S. Soccer, which disputes many details of the lawsuit, issued the following statement: “U.S. Soccer has faithfully and consistently worked with the U.S. Women’s National Team Players and staff to provide the team everything it needs to perform at the highest levels possible and compete to win world championships. The substantial and unwavering commitment by U.S. Soccer to those very ideals is evident in our proactive approach to drive the women’s game forward, which includes the creation of two elite women’s international tournaments to increase competition opportunities, adding technical and high-performance staff focused only on the USWNT, and enhancing our marketing campaigns. Our continued support and efforts toward enriching the women’s game is every bit as certain today as it will be in the future.”

The U.S. men’s players’ association stated that its organization “fully supports the efforts of the U.S. Women’s National Team Players to achieve equal pay. Specifically, we are committed to the concept of a revenue-sharing model to address the U.S. Soccer Federation’s ‘market realities’ and find a way towards fair compensation.”

The lawsuit may take time to work its way through the courts. There will be discovery and depositions — processes that could drill down on U.S. Soccer’s claims about “market realities.”

Meanwhile, there’s a World Cup to defend. The women will take the field, united in their purpose. Though it is unlikely to be an on-field distraction, the lawsuit will loom over the event, providing terrible optics and an embarrassing counterpoint to every feel-good advertisement and statement that U.S. Soccer and FIFA put forth about gender equity, mutual respect and female power.

The women in this fight are iconic. And, some day, the little girls watching this summer might be stenciling those names on the back of their own jerseys.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County, Ann Killion has covered Bay Area sports for more than two decades. An award-winning columnist and a veteran of 11 Olympics, several World Cups and the Tour de France, Ann joined The Chronicle in 2012. Ann has worked for the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. She is a New York Times best-selling author, having co-written "Solo: A Memoir of Hope" with soccer star Hope Solo,"Throw Like A Girl" with softball player Jennie Finch and two middle-grade books on soccer, “Champions of Women’s Soccer” and “Champions of Men’s Soccer.” She was named California Sportswriter of the Year in both 2014 and 2017. She has two children and lives in Mill Valley.